Hot Chocolate in 95 Degree Weather

Photo by Sister Klein

October 26, 2015

Hey Everyone,

We had another great week. I am loving the heat, the sun, and the unusual lack of rain. Who knew that Honduras could be dry? Well, it is, and people are getting worried. I am less worried because no rain means clear (not clean, but clear) water, and I don't feel like I am showering in mud.

This week I had the opportunity to go on companionship exchanges with one of the new Elders in the district. His name is Elder Ward from Blanding, Utah. 50 points to anyone who can find it on a map ;). He is a really cool guy. He reminds me a lot of myself when I was just getting started, and he says a lot of stuff that reminds me of my brother Tyler as well, haha. We had a good day, and even fit in a chess match while waiting to report numbers to the zone leaders. He beat me, but I had him scared. Kinda.

While in exchanges, we went to a guy that the missionaries have been teaching for an eternity. He is the epitome of an eternal investigator, but we visit him once a week just to keep him interested until he can change his job schedule. Anyway, we went to visit him, and he gave us some hot chocolate. At first I was like, "seriously? It's like 95 degrees outside. This could kill us." But then I was like, "Holy cow this is fantastic." Haha. It was home-made. Like they picked the cocoa, dried it, roasted it, and then ground it. It doesn't get fresher than that. It was fantastic.

In other news, my companion has been having some pretty intense back pain, which is impacting his ability to work. Despite our limited hours of working, we had a decent week. He is starting to feel better, so we are very excited for this coming week. The highlight of which will be tomorrow, because my companion and I will be traveling to La Ceiba for a meeting. It will be in my old building and everything, so I think that I will be able to see some converts there.

Well, I hope you all have a great week. Don't forget to read your scriptures.

Elder Aldrich

Photos via The Mission President's Wife's blog

Baptisms: Round Two

October 19, 2015


Hey Everyone,

We had another great, and very exciting week. It is exciting in all the best ways. This week, we had our second baptism in two weeks. His name is Luis, and he is a youth that has been coming for quite some time, but due to problems with finding him at home and soccer practice and games, he hasn't been able to be taught all of the lessons. My companion and I started teaching him about two weeks ago, but we are missionaries 7 and 8 that have taught him, so we came out lucky. He had a nail removed from his toe last week, shortly after we started teaching him, giving him time to finally listen to us like we all wanted. He was baptized this Saturday, and the baptism in itself was filled with small miracles.

Baptism: Luis

So as I have previously explained, when it rains, we don't have water, which was the case on Saturday, and due to another event (which I will share shortly) we were in the church building at 5:15pm, without any water in the font. Normally with normal water pressure, the font takes about an hour to an hour and a half to fill completely, and the baptism was supposed to start at 6pm. When I went to turn the handle to turn the water on, I found that it was already on...and no water was coming out. The bishop (or one of his counselors) had come earlier in the day and turned it on, but nothing had come out, so they left it on hoping that at some point the water would come on (and for those of you who remember our baptismal font experience in La Ceiba will know that that is not a great choice). So, I did all I could do. I turned off the water, and said a quick, sincere prayer, just begging for us to have enough water to fill the font and have a successful baptism, and then I turned the water back on. The font was full before the baptism started. It was truly incredible, and I won't forget the experience.

The baptism itself went very well, with talks by several youth who have become friends with him throughout the process, and his school teacher (our bishop) got to baptize him. I feel honored to have been able to participate in such a spiritual experience.

On Friday, we went to visit Oscar, our recent convert from the previous Saturday, but he wasn't home. We ended up talking to his brother, Juan. He seemed really interested, and asked lots of questions. He said that he didn't have much time and asked if we could come back the next day, and we decided to go at 2pm. So on Saturday at 2pm we got to his house and as soon as we sat down, we knew we were in for a rough lesson. He had on his lap a JW bible and a Book of Mormon, well marked and definitely not the one we had left him the day before. He started right in and talked about everything from the Articles of Faith to Eve in the Spirit World. Every once and a while I would try to butt in and say something like "if you would let me explain this to you" or even "if you don't let us speak, we can never teach you what we came to teach." Finally, he finished, and it was about 4:15pm, and he sat and kinda looked at us expectantly, and I said, "we don't believe in fighting with the bible. I would love to show you some scriptures that explain everything, but it will have to be another day." Then I testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and my companion testified of the same, and that Joseph Smith really was a prophet of God. The Spirit was so strong, but Juan seemed unphased. We said a prayer and we left.

We did "splits" with the Ward Mission Leader and a priest to fill the font and go back to Oscar's at 5pm to prep him to receive the Priesthood. While I filled the font (see above), my companion went with the WML to teach Oscar. As it turns out, Oscar's brother had told Oscar to sit in the other room and listen to him "show us what the Bible really says." Oscar told us (and I'm going to paraphrase) that he heard everything, but what he remembered, and really cared about was our testimony. He said that he felt the Spirit, the same Spirit he felt when he prayed to ask God if what we teach is true. He told us not to worry. He knows where he is and why. I was very glad, in that moment, that I hadn't tried to "Bible-Bash" with his older brother, and that my companion and I had just testified of the restored truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I was also impressed with the surety of this recent convert's testimony. Again, I really am so grateful to my Heavenly Father that I have been able to be an instrument in His hands, and witness so many miracles.

Baptism: Oscar

Just as kind of a last note, transfers were this week, and our district leader was transferred and I am the new district leader. The other two missionaries that didn't get transferred are training new missionaries, and my companion is yet to complete his training, so I have a district with three new missionaries, and I am very excited to be serving here at this time. This transfer is going to be a great one full of all sorts of new adventures and challenges, and I am ready for them.

I love you all. I hope you all have a great week. Enjoy the colder weather, and send some my way. Haha.

Elder Aldrich

Sorry Zone Leaders, I can't send in our numbers, a dog ate our phone. HaHa

Painting Progreso

October 12, 2015

Hi Everyone,

We had another great week here in Progreso. I think that it is kinda funny that I say that we had a good week every week, but oh well. The truth is the truth. Haha. Elder Martinez and I had a baptism this week. I am sure that I have mentioned him before, but his name is Oscar. I found him contacting with my old companion, and we knew that he would be baptized from the moment we walked into his house. He really is one of the sheep, and I am so glad that I could be a part of bringing him to the fold.

The baptism was pretty frustrating. We had planned to have it on Sunday morning, because there was a stake activity, and we had the baptismal interview on Friday. The other missionaries also had a baptism this week, but they planned theirs for Friday night. Oscar saw the other missionaries filling the font, and decided that he wanted to be baptized right then, so he stuck around to wait. That was at 5 in the afternoon. The other investigator that was going to get baptized didn't even show up until 7 pm, and we left the church building at 8:30 pm. It was a great service, but I am a little worried that the only thing Oscar will remember about his baptism will be a 3 and a half hour wait. All the stress aside, the baptism was great, and it is difficult to be angry after a baptism. Haha.

This Saturday, we helped our cook's husband paint his doctor's office. It was super fun, and more than a little messy. It took us the entire afternoon, but we did finally get it done. I have some great pictures, but the computer is not allowing me to upload them... Next week.

This week is transfer week, and the two other companionships in the district will be training, so we will have all three companionships with a new missionary. I am really excited. It should be a blast. I don't expect to be transferred. I only have 3 months here, plus my companion still hasn't finished his training, so the safest bet is that I will be here for a little while longer.

Hope you all have a great week. Thanks so much for the prayers and the support.

Elder Aldrich

A Haunting in Corocol

October 5, 2015

Hey guys,

This was another great week here in Progreso. It has been kinda hectic and spiritual on a few different levels.

To start off, we had a Fellowshipping Night (Noche de Hermanamiento) on Wednesday night. We normally have about 15-20 people there, and 1 or 2 investigators if we luck out and a family brings someone. This week, it was our turn to give the class, so we put together a Jeopardy game about the scriptures and living prophets, but we really weren't expecting it to be too great. When we showed up, there were like 6 whole people there. My companion and I were pretty bummed, but then one family shows up in their little bus, so there are fifteen more, we can do this. Then another family shows up with another 10 or so, and 4 of our investigators. It took about all I had not to start jumping up and down from the excitement. The other missionaries in our ward showed up right before we started with another of there investigators as well. We ended up having around 40 people in the meeting, with 8 investigators. The game was so much fun and everyone participated. The bishop came and pulled another Elder and I aside and asked us to come to the Ward Council Meeting (which we have been asking to attend for weeks) and told us that we would be making plans to have members work even more with us. It was awesome.

So this week we went on exchanges with another companionship in our district. I went to an area called Corocol which (sorry mom) is probably one of the more dangerous areas in our zone, and my companion stayed behind to hold down the fort. However, what scared me most about going to Corocol wasn't the people in the street, it's the house! There are some pretty crazy stories about the house in Corocol including little girls in the pila out back, and something that tips over dressers. Pretty intense stuff, and I didn't want to be a part of it. And I wasn't. We did hear some stuff, but it all came from outside the house. Haha. The exchanges were fun, we didn't get mugged, and I can now say that I survived a night in the Casa de Corocol.

After the adventure in Corocol, I went back to Progreso and we went to work. On Saturday morning we got up and went to General Conference. I love General Conference. I love listening to God's servants bear testimony of Jesus Christ. I thought some of the things that stuck out the most was the importance of gaining a testimony, and then not letting go of it. I also saw that they focused a lot on the importance of mothers and just women in general. I know that all of the Elders were missing our moms while Elder Holland was talking. I think one of my favorite talks had to be either President Nelson or Elder Bednar. I also loved listening to the new Apostles that were called. You can already see the great power in these men.

This next Saturday we should be having a baptism. These last two changes have been difficult, and we are about to start seeing the fruits of our labors. No one has baptized in my area since March. 7 months is a long time without a baptism, and we have been blessed to have found this guy. We also have a date for the 17th and another for the 24th, but they are going to need a little more work. This next Wednesday (the 14th) is transfer day, and I am really hoping and praying that I don't get transferred. I have worked really hard to get this area up and running, and it would be disappointing to lose out, but you never know. I'll go where He sends me.

I hope you all have a great week. Enjoy your cold weather.

Elder Aldrich

Honduras Logic

 September 8, 2015

Hey Guys,

Hope you all have had a great week. We have definitely had one here. We had a few exciting things happen this week. First of all, rainy season has officially started. Since I walked out of the Internet cafe last week, it has been raining on and off. It hasn't rained super hard yet, but I am sure expecting to see some crazy rain coming soon.

The funny thing about Honduras is that when there are days where there is sun, sun, and more sun, the water in the house is abundant, but the moment that it rains, the water stops coming. We went two days without water, but we got lucky and we had just finished showering when the water went out. At night, there still wasn't any water, so we figured that we would borrow some from our neighbor's pila (a giant cement tub of water). When we hauled it inside, we looked at the water, and decided that it was probably better that we not use it. You could literally see the worms swimming in the water. Haha. So we didn't shower that night, but the next morning the water came back, but only in the form of a steady drip from the faucet. It took about two hours, but we filled our bucket, and we each used one half to shower. The water was a nice golden brown, but it got the job done.

This Wednesday we had a Multi-Zone Conference in La Lima. It's like a twenty minute bus ride, but we were running late, so one of the other missionaries got the bright idea to call a taxi. It was cool, except the price difference is insane. A bus costs 12 (60 cents) Limps, and a taxi costs 300 Limps (15 dollars) to go that far. We got there on time, but we barely had enough to get home. Haha. The meeting was great, as always. President Klein talked about the importance of following today's living prophets, and he used the Book of Ether to show us. We have had the privilege of listening to two different members of the Quorum of the 12, and we should put an emphasis on doing what they have asked of us.

We are really excited to have General Conference this week. It is one thing to tell people that we have a living prophet, and another to tell them that we have a prophet, and "you should come listen to what he has to say."  It's a unique opportunity. You guys should use it and invite a friend or two.

This week we saw several small miracles. One of our investigators with a baptismal date started attending mutual with the young women, and the ward suddenly got excited. now everyone is asking when we have time to visit with them, and "hey I have a friend you should visit" and all that cool stuff. Hopefully we can work with some of these references and see where they take us. Maybe we can get some more baptisms.

Being a missionary is a humbling experience. I kind of feel like it's an "all eyes on you" experience. It's like, everyone sees what you do. The members, nonmembers, the JWs, the preachers of other churches, the hobos, and most importantly Heavenly Father. When a missionary makes a mistake, big or small, the whole world knows about it. The hope is to use the eyes on us to make a good name for the Mormons here in Progreso and erase the stereotypes that currently exist. Haha.

I love being a missionary, and I love preaching the Gospel to everyone. It takes a lot of effort, but it's an effort worth giving.

Elder Aldrich

Making Friends with Jehovah's Witnesses

September 21, 2015

Hey All,

We had another great week here in Progreso. This week had been filled with fun under the sun. The hot, scorching sun. Haha. Some have asked what the weather is like here in Honduras during the fall. This week we dropped down in the high 30s or maybe the low 40s. Here, it's in Celsius. Translation: Even in winter, it's 100 degrees outside. Haha. Here seasons don't exist. There is a rainy season and a not-so-rainy season. Right now it is moving into the more rainy part of the year, so that is super nice. When it starts to rain, you go to the closest house, yell "buenas!" and someone will let you in. The biggest problem is that you can't teach once you are inside because the rain beats too loudly on the tin roof.

Training a brand new missionary is quite the new experience. You would think that training someone that already speaks the language would be easy, but that would be an incorrect assessment. There are so many things to learn as a new missionary that I am so used to now, that I forgot that they were even weird. Not to mention the change of climate, comida, and slang. Probably the funniest thing is that in Spanish, there are two words for our word "grab". One is "agarrar" and the other is "coger". According to missionaries I talk to, in South America they use "coger" most, but here in Central America, that word is super vulgar, and means something completely different. This week my companion accidentally asked a lady to "coger" her Bible instead of "agarrar" it. Hahahaha. She gave him the dirtiest look, and I just started laughing as my companion tried to explain the difference. It was super funny. The good news is that people here are understanding.

On Friday, there was a big carnival in our area celebrating the creation of a neighborhood. There was a Ferriswheel, small rides, and a concert. No one was in there house, and if they were, they were getting ready to leave and told us to come back the next day. After managing to squeeze out a few lessons, we saw some Jehovah's Witnesses walking around tracting some houses, so I told my comp that we should talk to one. My companion didn't really want to, but I always enjoy talking to them and listening to them, so we walked up to one and started talking, and we talked about the Plan of Salvation. Supposedly, JWs never let us get two words in, but this man was actually really cool. He explained a little to me, then he asked me a question, and I got to teach a little to him. It was actually a great experience, and I have a lot of respect for these guys. This man was probably about 55 years old, has a family, a job, and he spends his free time trying to share his beliefs with others because he has found happiness through it. It was cool to kinda get to see the other side of things for a minute.

On Sunday we had two investigators in church. They both have baptismal dates for October 10th. My companion and I are way excited for October. It should be a great month full of success and excitement. The ward is seeing that we are bringing more and more people to church and they are starting to trust in us more and are evening starting to join us in the lessons. It should be a great week this week.

Have a great week!

Elder Aldrich

Another Great Week in Progreso

September 14, 2015

Hey Everyone.

We had another great week here in Progreso. Training is so much fun, and my companion is great. Still no double-blinking. Haha.

We found someone named Caleb this week. We were contacting and a kid came out and we did the whole "hey we are missionaries" deal, and when we asked him his name, he said Caleb. I was so excited and both my comp and this guy were staring at me like I was crazy and I just kinda laughed and we sat down and taught him a lesson. There is just something awesome about finding someone else with your same name in some third world country.

This week we had a Mini MTC activity with the stake. It was cool. We got up at 5, an hour and a half early than was really necessary in order to be at the church at 6am. The stake primary presidency showed up shortly thereafter, at 7:30 in the morning. I don't know what the zone leaders were thinking, but we could have used the extra sleep. They put the kids into districts of 10-12 kids, and put two companionships in charge of teaching them for two classes of 1 and a half hours.
Unfortunately,
our zone leaders failed to inform us that we would be teaching children. Can anybody say "Let's Wing It"? That's exactly what we did, and it went fairly well until they got hungry and bored, and it was even worse after giving them Popeyes chicken and Coca Cola. 12 kids hyped up on Coke is exactly what I imagined when I sang "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission" as a kid. Haha. Nah. It was a blast. It was interesting to watch a bunch of 18-20 year old guys trying to babysit and teach at the same time, and it actually turned out great. The kids loved it, and we even got to listen to a talk from President Klein.

Here is a picture of my trainer, Elder Diaz, his new missionary, and me and my new companion. It is kinda fun to be training as the same time as the guy who trained me. We saw each other on Saturday at the Mini MTC and chatted about my early days as a missionary and all the weird stuff I did and said. It is crazy to see how far I have come.

I hope you all have a great week.

Elder Aldrich